Working age population

Published 1 August 2018

Last updated 15 September 2020 - see all updates

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• according to the 2011 Census, the total population of England and Wales was 56.1 million, and nearly two-thirds of people (36.3 million) were of ‘working age’ (aged 16 to 64 years)
• 85.6% of working age people were from White ethnic groups, 8.1% Asian, 3.4% Black, 1.8% had Mixed ethnicity, and 1.1% were from the Other ethnic group
• among the specific ethnic groups, nearly 4 out of 5 working age people (79.2%) identified as White British
• after White British, the groups making up the largest percentage of the working age population were Other White (5.4%), Indian (2.8%), Pakistani (1.9%) and Black African (1.8%)
• 82.1% of people from the Chinese ethnic group were of working age, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 49.0% of people from the Mixed White and Black African ethnic group were of working age, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data shows:

• the number of working age people (aged 16 to 64) in England and Wales
• the percentage of the working age population from each ethnic group
• the percentage of people in each ethnic group of working age

Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.

Read more about the 2011 Census.

Not included in the data

The data does not include households that did not answer the Census question about ethnicity.

94% of households completed the Census. Of those, 97% answered the question about ethnicity.

The data has been adjusted to take into account people and households who were not counted or counted incorrectly.

The ethnic groups used in the data

The data uses the standardised list of 18 ethnic groups that were developed for the 2011 Census.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document for this data.

In every ethnic group, the percentage of people of working age is closely related to its overall age profile. You can read more about the age profiles of different ethnic groups.

3. Working age population by ethnicity

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2011
• Source: England and Wales 2011 Census

Percentage and number of people of working age (aged 16 to 64 years) by ethnicity

Ethnicity	%	Number
All	100.0	36,273,707
Asian	8.1	2,936,933
Bangladeshi	0.8	275,116
Chinese	0.9	322,791
Indian	2.8	1,026,432
Pakistani	1.9	704,689
Asian other	1.7	607,905
Black	3.4	1,240,547
Black African	1.8	667,418
Black Caribbean	1.1	408,318
Black other	0.5	164,811
Mixed	1.8	638,291
Mixed White/Asian	0.5	170,927
Mixed White/Black African	0.2	81,364
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	0.6	225,465
Mixed other	0.4	160,535
White	85.6	31,054,503
White British	79.2	28,731,855
White Irish	0.9	337,577
White Gypsy/Traveller	0.1	35,869
White other	5.4	1,949,202
Other	1.1	403,433
Arab	0.4	156,948
Any other	0.7	246,485

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Working age population Working age population by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• according to the 2011 Census, the total population of England and Wales was 56.1 million, and 64.7% of people (36.3 million) were of ‘working age’ (aged 16 to 64 years)
• 85.6% of working age people were White, 8.1% were Asian, 3.4% were Black, 1.8% had Mixed ethnicity, and 1.1% were from the Other ethnic group
• among the specific ethnic groups, 79.2% of working age people identified as White British
• after White British, the groups making up the largest percentage of the working age population were Other White (5.4%), Indian (2.8%), Pakistani (1.9%) and Black African (1.8%)
• of the 18 ethnic groups listed in the 2011 Census, those making up the smallest percentage of the working age population were Gypsy or Irish Traveller (0.1%), Mixed White and Black African (0.2%), and the Other Mixed and Arab groups (both at 0.4%)

4. Ethnic groups by working age

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2011
• Source: England and Wales 2011 Census

Percentage and number of people within each ethnic group who are of working age (aged 16 to 64 years)

Ethnicity	%	Number
All	64.7	36,273,707
Asian	69.7	2,936,933
Bangladeshi	61.5	275,116
Chinese	82.1	322,791
Indian	72.6	1,026,432
Pakistani	62.7	704,689
Asian other	72.7	607,905
Black	66.5	1,240,547
Black African	67.4	667,418
Black Caribbean	68.6	408,318
Black other	58.8	164,811
Mixed	52.1	638,291
Mixed White/Asian	50.0	170,927
Mixed White/Black African	49.0	81,364
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	52.8	225,465
Mixed other	55.4	160,535
White	64.4	31,054,503
White British	63.7	28,731,855
White Irish	63.6	337,577
White Gypsy/Traveller	62.2	35,869
White other	78.4	1,949,202
Other	71.6	403,433
Arab	68.1	156,948
Any other	74.0	246,485

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Working age population Ethnic groups by working age Summary

This data shows that:

• according to the 2011 Census, 64.7% of the population of England and Wales was of working age (aged 16 to 64 years)
• 82.1% of people from the Chinese ethnic group were of working age, the highest out of all ethnic groups, followed by the Other White ethnic group (78.4%)
• 49.0% of people from the Mixed White and Black African ethnic group were of working age, the lowest out of the 18 ethnic groups listed in the Census, followed by the Mixed White and Asian ethnic group (50.0%)
• 63.7% of White British people were of working age, slightly lower than the national average

5. Working age population by ethnicity and country (England, Wales)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2011
• Source: England and Wales 2011 Census

Percentage and number of people of working age (aged 16 to 64 years) by ethnicity and country

	England		Wales
Ethnicity	England %	England Number	Wales %	Wales Number
All	100.0	34,329,091	100.0	1,944,616
Asian	8.4	2,886,974	2.6	49,959
Bangladeshi	0.8	268,507	0.3	6,609
Chinese	0.9	311,828	0.6	10,963
Indian	3.0	1,013,550	0.7	12,882
Pakistani	2.0	696,841	0.4	7,848
Asian other	1.7	596,248	0.6	11,657
Black	3.6	1,227,458	0.7	13,089
Black African	1.9	658,725	0.4	8,693
Black Caribbean	1.2	405,493	0.1	2,825
Black other	0.5	163,240	0.1	1,571
Mixed	1.8	620,280	0.9	18,011
Mixed White/Asian	0.5	165,976	0.3	4,951
Mixed White/Black African	0.2	79,068	0.1	2,296
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	0.6	218,859	0.3	6,606
Mixed other	0.5	156,377	0.2	4,158
White	85.1	29,201,606	95.3	1,852,897
White British	78.5	26,932,465	92.5	1,799,390
White Irish	1.0	328,505	0.5	9,072
White Gypsy/Traveller	0.1	34,178	0.1	1,691
White other	5.6	1,906,458	2.2	42,744
Other	1.1	392,773	0.5	10,660
Arab	0.4	150,446	0.3	6,502
Any other	0.7	242,327	0.2	4,158

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Working age population Working age population by ethnicity and country (England, Wales) Summary

This data shows that:

• according to the 2011 Census, the working age population (people aged 16 to 64 years) was 34.3 million in England and 1.9 million in Wales
• White British people made up 92.5% of the working age population in Wales, compared with 78.5% in England
• the second largest broad ethnic group in both England and Wales was the Asian group, making up 8.4% and 2.6% of the working age populations respectively
• people from Black backgrounds made up 3.6% of the working age population in England, compared with 0.7% of Wales.
• looking at specific ethnic groups, people from Other White backgrounds made up 5.6% of the working age population in England, compared with 2.2% of Wales

6. Ethnic groups by working age and country (England, Wales)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2011
• Source: England and Wales 2011 Census

Percentage and number of people within each ethnic group who are of working age (aged 16 to 64 years) by country

	England		Wales
Ethnicity	England %	England Number	Wales %	Wales Number
All	64.8	34,329,091	63.5	1,944,616
Asian	69.7	2,886,974	71.2	49,959
Bangladeshi	61.5	268,507	61.8	6,609
Chinese	82.2	311,828	80.4	10,963
Indian	72.6	1,013,550	74.7	12,882
Pakistani	62.6	696,841	64.2	7,848
Asian other	72.8	596,248	71.4	11,657
Black	66.5	1,227,458	71.6	13,089
Black African	67.4	658,725	73.1	8,693
Black Caribbean	68.6	405,493	74.2	2,825
Black other	58.7	163,240	60.9	1,571
Mixed	52.0	620,280	57.1	18,011
Mixed White/Asian	49.9	165,976	54.9	4,951
Mixed White/Black African	48.9	79,068	51.9	2,296
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	52.7	218,859	59.5	6,606
Mixed other	55.3	156,377	59.6	4,158
White	64.5	29,201,606	63.3	1,852,897
White British	63.7	26,932,465	63.0	1,799,390
White Irish	63.5	328,505	64.4	9,072
White Gypsy/Traveller	62.3	34,178	60.7	1,691
White other	78.5	1,906,458	76.4	42,744
Other	71.6	392,773	69.8	10,660
Arab	68.1	150,446	67.6	6,502
Any other	74.0	242,327	73.4	4,158

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Working age population Ethnic groups by working age and country (England, Wales) Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, according to the 2011 Census, 64.8% of people in England and 63.5% in Wales were of working age (aged 16 to 64 years)
• in both England and Wales, the Chinese ethnic group had the highest percentage of people who were of working age out of all ethnic groups (at 82.2% and 80.4% respectively), while the Mixed White and Black African group had the lowest percentage (at 48.9% and 51.9% respectively)
• 71.6% of people from Black backgrounds in Wales were of working age, compared with 66.5% in England
• similarly, 57.1% of people with Mixed ethnicity in Wales were of working age, compared with 52.0% in England

7. Data sources

Source

England and Wales 2011 Census

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Publication frequency

Every 10 years

Purpose of data source

The Census is carried out every 10 years. Data from the March 2021 Census will not be available until 2022, so 2011 Census data is used instead.

Census data gives the government the information it needs to plan and run public services. It is also used as a benchmark for other statistical estimates, and it can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.

8. Download the data

Working age population of England and Wales - Spreadsheet (csv) 26 KB

This file contains: Measure, Ethnicity, Geography, Age Group, Sex, Value, Count, Year, Source

Publication release date: 1 August 2018

Updated: 15 September 2020

full page history

1. 15 September 2020 Moved all contextual information to ‘Things you need to know’ and its new subsections. Increased visibility by adding it to the table of contents. Removed any duplication and added links to content about understanding our data. Charts, tables and the data file have not been updated.
2. 27 April 2020 Description added for search engines.
3. 1 August 2018 First published

From: Office for National Statistics

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